484 research outputs found
Molecular cytogenetic mapping of Cucumis sativus and C. melo using highly repetitive DNA sequences
Chromosomes often serve as one of the most important molecular aspects of studying the evolution of species. Indeed, most of the crucial mutations that led to differentiation of species during the evolution have occurred at the chromosomal level. Furthermore, the analysis of pachytene chromosomes appears to be an invaluable tool for the study of evolution due to its effectiveness in chromosome identification and precise physical gene mapping. By applying fluorescence in situ hybridization of 45S rDNA and CsCent1 probes to cucumber pachytene chromosomes, here, we demonstrate that cucumber chromosomes 1 and 2 may have evolved from fusions of ancestral karyotype with chromosome number n= 12. This conclusion is further supported by the centromeric sequence similarity between cucumber and melon, which suggests that these sequences evolved from a common ancestor. It may be after or during speciation that these sequences were specifically amplified, after which they diverged and specific sequence variants were homogenized. Additionally, a structural change on the centromeric region of cucumber chromosome 4 was revealed by fiber-FISH using the mitochondrial-related repetitive sequences, BAC-E38 and CsCent1. These showed the former sequences being integrated into the latter in multiple regions. The data presented here are useful resources for comparative genomics and cytogenetics of Cucumis and, in particular, the ongoing genome sequencing project of cucumbe
Calogero-Moser Lax Pairs with Spectral Parameter for General Lie Algebras
We construct a Lax pair with spectral parameter for the elliptic
Calogero-Moser Hamiltonian systems associated with each of the finite
dimensional Lie algebras, of the classical and of the exceptional type. When
the spectral parameter equals one of the three half periods of the elliptic
curve, our result for the classical Lie algebras reduces to one of the Lax
pairs without spectral parameter that were known previously. These
Calogero-Moser systems are invariant under the Weyl group of the associated
untwisted affine Lie algebra. For non-simply laced Lie algebras, we introduce
new integrable systems, naturally associated with twisted affine Lie algebras,
and construct their Lax operators with spectral parameter (except in the case
of ).Comment: 84 pages, Plain TeX, 1 figure; minor typos corrected, 2 refs adde
Spectral Curves for Super-Yang-Mills with Adjoint Hypermultiplet for General Lie Algebras
The Seiberg-Witten curves and differentials for supersymmetric
Yang-Mills theories with one hypermultiplet of mass in the adjoint
representation of the gauge algebra \G, are constructed for arbitrary
classical or exceptional \G (except ). The curves are obtained from the
recently established Lax pairs with spectral parameter for the (twisted)
elliptic Calogero-Moser integrable systems associated with the algebra \G.
Curves and differentials are shown to have the proper group theoretic and
complex analytic structure, and to behave as expected when tends either to
0 or to . By way of example, the prepotential for \G = D_n, evaluated
with these techniques, is shown to agree with standard perturbative results. A
renormalization group type equation relating the prepotential to the
Calogero-Moser Hamiltonian is obtained for arbitrary \G, generalizing a
previous result for \G = SU(N). Duality properties and decoupling to theories
with other representations are briefly discussed.Comment: 27 pages, Plain TeX; minor typos corrected, 5 refs adde
Risk of hospitalization and death following prostate biopsy in Scotland
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk of hospitalization and death following prostate biopsy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Our study population comprised 10,285 patients with a record of first ever prostate biopsy between 2009 and 2013 on computerized acute hospital discharge or outpatient records covering Scotland. Using the general population as a comparison group, expected numbers of admissions/deaths were derived by applying age-, sex-, deprivation category-, and calendar year-specific rates of hospital admissions/deaths to the study population. Indirectly standardized hospital admission ratios (SHRs) and mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated by dividing the observed numbers of admissions/deaths by expected numbers. RESULTS: Compared with background rates, patients were more likely to be admitted to hospital within 30 days (SHR 2.7; 95% confidence interval 2.4, 2.9) and 120 days (SHR 4.0; 3.8, 4.1) of biopsy. Patients with prior co-morbidity had higher SHRs. The risk of death within 30 days of biopsy was not increased significantly (SMR 1.6; 0.9, 2.7), but within 120 days, the risk of death was significantly higher than expected (SMR 1.9; 1.5, 2.4). The risk of death increased with age and tended to be higher among patients with prior co-morbidity. Overall risks of hospitalization and of death up to 120 days were increased both in men diagnosed and those not diagnosed with prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Higher rates of adverse events in older patients and patients with prior co-morbidity emphasizes the need for careful patient selection for prostate biopsy and justifies ongoing efforts to minimize the risk of complications
Josephson Coupling and Fiske Dynamics in Ferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions
We report on the fabrication of Nb/AlO_x/Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18}/Nb
superconductor/insulator/ferromagnetic metal/superconductor (SIFS) Josephson
junctions with high critical current densities, large normal resistance times
area products, high quality factors, and very good spatial uniformity. For
these junctions a transition from 0- to \pi-coupling is observed for a
thickness d_F ~ 6 nm of the ferromagnetic Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} interlayer. The
magnetic field dependence of the \pi-coupled junctions demonstrates good
spatial homogeneity of the tunneling barrier and ferromagnetic interlayer.
Magnetic characterization shows that the Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} has an out-of-plane
anisotropy and large saturation magnetization, indicating negligible dead
layers at the interfaces. A careful analysis of Fiske modes provides
information on the junction quality factor and the relevant damping mechanisms
up to about 400 GHz. Whereas losses due to quasiparticle tunneling dominate at
low frequencies, the damping is dominated by the finite surface resistance of
the junction electrodes at high frequencies. High quality factors of up to 30
around 200 GHz have been achieved. Our analysis shows that the fabricated
junctions are promising for applications in superconducting quantum circuits or
quantum tunneling experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Molecular pathogenesis of spondylocheirodysplastic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome caused by mutant ZIP13 proteins.
The zinc transporter protein ZIP13 plays critical roles in bone, tooth, and connective tissue development, and its dysfunction is responsible for the spondylocheirodysplastic form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (SCD-EDS, OMIM 612350). Here, we report the molecular pathogenic mechanism of SCD-EDS caused by two different mutant ZIP13 proteins found in human patients: ZIP13(G64D), in which Gly at amino acid position 64 is replaced by Asp, and ZIP13(ΔFLA), which contains a deletion of Phe-Leu-Ala. We demonstrated that both the ZIP13(G64D) and ZIP13(ΔFLA) protein levels are decreased by degradation via the valosin-containing protein (VCP)-linked ubiquitin proteasome pathway. The inhibition of degradation pathways rescued the protein expression levels, resulting in improved intracellular Zn homeostasis. Our findings uncover the pathogenic mechanisms elicited by mutant ZIP13 proteins. Further elucidation of these degradation processes may lead to novel therapeutic targets for SCD-EDS
Cosmology of Brane Models with Radion Stabilization
We analyze the cosmology of the Randall-Sundrum model and that of compact
brane models in general in the presence of a radius stabilization mechanism. We
find that the expansion of our universe is generically in agreement with the
expected effective four dimensional description. The constraint (which is
responsible for the appearance of non-conventional cosmologies in these models)
that must be imposed on the matter densities on the two branes in the theory
without a stabilized radius is a consequence of requiring a static solution
even in the absence of stabilization. Such constraints disappear in the
presence of a stablizing potential, and the ordinary FRW
(Friedmann-Robertson-Walker) equations are reproduced, with the expansion
driven by the sum of the physical values of the energy densities on the two
branes and in the bulk. For the case of the Randall-Sundrum model we examine
the kinematics of the radion field, and find that corrections to the standard
FRW equations are small for temperatures below the weak scale. We find that the
radion field has renormalizable and unsuppressed couplings to Standard Model
particles after electroweak symmetry breaking. These couplings may have
important implications for collider searches. We comment on the possibility
that matter off the TeV brane could serve as a dark matter candidate.Comment: 35 pages, Late
Observation of a Narrow Resonance of Mass 2.46 GeV/c^2 Decaying to D_s^*+ pi^0 and Confirmation of the D_sJ^* (2317) State
Using 13.5 inverse fb of e+e- annihilation data collected with the CLEO II
detector we have observed a narrow resonance in the Ds*+pi0 final state, with a
mass near 2.46 GeV. The search for such a state was motivated by the recent
discovery by the BaBar Collaboration of a narrow state at 2.32 GeV, the
DsJ*(2317)+ that decays to Ds+pi0. Reconstructing the Ds+pi0 and Ds*+pi0 final
states in CLEO data, we observe peaks in both of the corresponding
reconstructed mass difference distributions, dM(Dspi0)=M(Dspi0)-M(Ds) and
dM(Ds*pi0)=M(Ds*pi0)-M(Ds*), both of them at values near 350 MeV. We interpret
these peaks as signatures of two distinct states, the DsJ*(2317)+ plus a new
state, designated as the DsJ(2463)+. Because of the similar dM values, each of
these states represents a source of background for the other if photons are
lost, ignored or added. A quantitative accounting of these reflections confirms
that both states exist. We have measured the mean mass differences
= 350.0 +/- 1.2 [stat] +/- 1.0 [syst] MeV for the DsJ*(2317) state, and
= 351.2 +/- 1.7 [stat] +/- 1.0 [syst] MeV for the new DsJ(2463)+
state. We have also searched, but find no evidence, for decays of the two
states via the channels Ds*+gamma, Ds+gamma, and Ds+pi+pi-. The observations of
the two states at 2.32 and 2.46 GeV, in the Ds+pi0 and Ds*+pi0 decay channels
respectively, are consistent with their interpretations as (c anti-strange)
mesons with orbital angular momentum L=1, and spin-parities of 0+ and 1+.Comment: 16 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, version to be published in Physical
Review D; minor modifications and fixes to typographical errors, plus an
added section on production properties. The main results are unchanged; they
supersede those reported in hep-ex/030501
Measurement of the Charge Asymmetry in
We report on a search for a CP-violating asymmetry in the charmless hadronic
decay B -> K*(892)+- pi-+, using 9.12 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity produced
at \sqrt{s}=10.58 GeV and collected with the CLEO detector. We find A_{CP}(B ->
K*(892)+- pi-+) = 0.26+0.33-0.34(stat.)+0.10-0.08(syst.), giving an allowed
interval of [-0.31,0.78] at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 7 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR
Study of the q^2-Dependence of B --> pi ell nu and B --> rho(omega)ell nu Decay and Extraction of |V_ub|
We report on determinations of |Vub| resulting from studies of the branching
fraction and q^2 distributions in exclusive semileptonic B decays that proceed
via the b->u transition. Our data set consists of the 9.7x10^6 BBbar meson
pairs collected at the Y(4S) resonance with the CLEO II detector. We measure
B(B0 -> pi- l+ nu) = (1.33 +- 0.18 +- 0.11 +- 0.01 +- 0.07)x10^{-4} and B(B0 ->
rho- l+ nu) = (2.17 +- 0.34 +0.47/-0.54 +- 0.41 +- 0.01)x10^{-4}, where the
errors are statistical, experimental systematic, systematic due to residual
form-factor uncertainties in the signal, and systematic due to residual
form-factor uncertainties in the cross-feed modes, respectively. We also find
B(B+ -> eta l+ nu) = (0.84 +- 0.31 +- 0.16 +- 0.09)x10^{-4}, consistent with
what is expected from the B -> pi l nu mode and quark model symmetries. We
extract |Vub| using Light-Cone Sum Rules (LCSR) for 0<= q^2<16 GeV^2 and
Lattice QCD (LQCD) for 16 GeV^2 <= q^2 < q^2_max. Combining both intervals
yields |Vub| = (3.24 +- 0.22 +- 0.13 +0.55/-0.39 +- 0.09)x10^{-3}$ for pi l nu,
and |Vub| = (3.00 +- 0.21 +0.29/-0.35 +0.49/-0.38 +-0.28)x10^{-3} for rho l nu,
where the errors are statistical, experimental systematic, theoretical, and
signal form-factor shape, respectively. Our combined value from both decay
modes is |Vub| = (3.17 +- 0.17 +0.16/-0.17 +0.53/-0.39 +-0.03)x10^{-3}.Comment: 45 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR
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